Babel on verge of Liverpool move

Liverpool will complete the signing of Ryan Babel for €17 million tomorrow, Ajax confirmed this evening, while Yossi Benayoun has signed a four-year contract with the club.

Babel was a member of the Netherlands team that won the European under-21 championship on home soil in June.

"The attacker, who had a contract until 2010 will sign a five-year deal with the Champions League finalists," Ajax said on its official website.

The 20-year-old, a product of the Amsterdam club's youth system, made his debut for Ajax aged 17 in February 2004 and has scored 24 goals in 111 matches.

Babel won the first of 14 full caps away to Romania in a qualifier for the 2006 World Cup during which he scored the first of his four international goals to seal a 2-0 victory.

Benayoun completed his protracted transfer from West Ham by committing himself to the club until 2011. The two clubs spent several weeks haggling over the value of the 27-year-old, who had held off signing a new contract at Upton Park
once he learned of Liverpool's interest.

However, a fee  was finally agreed yesterday and the formalities of the deal were completed with the player today.

Manager Rafael Benitez has been looking to add more creativity to his side and, having sold Luis Garcia, viewed Benayoun as an ideal replacement.

"I first saw him play for Racing Santander in La Liga when he was a really good player, but when he first came to England we were watching to be sure he could adapt to a different style of football," Benitez said of the Israel international.

"It's clear he's done this very well at West Ham. Liverpool fans will remember how he played in the (2006) FA Cup final against us when he was outstanding. We thought then this was a player who is capable of stepping up to a higher level."

Benitez revealed that once the player was made aware of Liverpool's interest he needed no persuading to move to Anfield.

"He was offered a big new contract at West Ham and received offers from a lot of other clubs offering him more money but Yossi's message was always the same," Benitez told the club's website.

"He said he was desperate to only join Liverpool because this was his dream. When Rick (Parry, chief executive), the Americans (co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks) and I spoke about the player, we all agreed this is the kind of attitude we and our supporters really like.

"When you have quality players with his ability showing so much passion to play for your club, it's really good for the team."

Benitez has been busy in the transfer market earlier than usual this summer as he tries to assemble a squad capable of making a sustained challenge for the Premier League title.

Having agreed a deal for forward Andriy Voronin, he broke the club's transfer record to bring Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres to Anfield and the arrival of Benayoun and Babel will almost complete his spending.

The Spaniard continues to be linked with Manchester United's Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze.